Migrant Labor Is Not What Distinguishes China from Other Developing Countries

The NYT had a strange column today carrying the headline, "The orphans of China's economic miracle." The piece talks about the tens of millions of children who were left behind in the countryside when their parents left to find better paying jobs elsewhere in the country.

The reason why the column is strange is that it might leave readers with the impression that China is an exception among developing countries in having large numbers of migrant workers who leave their children behind in the...